Getting dropped is a bummer, no matter what kind of ride you’re doing. Whether you fall off the back of your shop's weekly group ride, or can't keep up with the lead group during a pro race, it’s an unpleasant feeling, and it can mess with your head.

We asked experts for their best nuggets of physical, mental, and emotional advice to help you get back in the game.

Don’t assume you’re droppedAs soon as that gap opens and you start hurting, it’s tempting to let the group ride away. But it might just take a few seconds of sprinting to close the gap, so don’t give up immediately.

“Never quit until you know for sure that you are not going to make it back,” says Heath Dotson, owner of HD Coaching in Asheville, North Carolina. “Getting dropped on a hill hurts, but if you push hard over the top, you might still catch back on the descent.”

Give it a few hard pedal strokes and you might get back into the pack, where you can relax a bit and recover.

“Remember that everyone is suffering - you aren't the only one, even though it might feel like it,” says Georgia Gould, 2012 London Olympic Games mountain bike bronze medalist.

So when you see the gap forming ahead of you on that climb, don’t think you’re the only one breathing hard; everyone else is probably hurting, too.

Raise your mental gameWhen you see the group head off without you, it’s easy to get stuck inside your head listening to negative voices.

But getting negative doesn't help and will only make things worse, explains Gould. Instead, she advises that riders switch their focus to something more positive and controllable.

“I focus on proper technique, breathing, or riding the next section of trail, rather than thinking of what already happened or what's going to happen on the next lap.”

By staying positive, even when dropped, Gould is salvaging her race and her mood—and often this helps her fight her way back to the front of the race, instead of accepting defeat.

Don’t let one bad ride get you downJust like a bad day at the office doesn’t make you a bad worker, one bad ride doesn’t make you a bad cyclist.

“We tend to take one bad performance and generalize it,” warns Dr. Joan Steidinger, a San Francisco-based sports psychologist and author of Sisterhood in Sports.

You’re probably not getting dropped on every ride. You might just be tired, bonking, or dehydrated. When you get dropped, take note: How were you feeling, and how much were you eating and drinking beforehand? You may notice patterns around rides when you’re not feeling great, and you can work to correct them.

Turn getting dropped into a learning experienceIf you notice yourself constantly getting dropped in corners, on descents, or when the terrain gets technical, it might be time to start adding skills practice to your training sessions.

“Maybe you have the fitness, but your skills need some tweaking,” says Dotson. “If you got dropped in a criterium, cyclocross race, or mountain bike race, was it because it was technical and you blew because you had to work harder to stay with more technically-proficient riders? If that's the case, skills training is in order.”

That doesn’t mean you should neglect your fitness training. “Do skills on your easy days to get more technically proficient,” says Dotson.

What doesn’t kill you makes you strongerBeing dropped isn’t the worst thing – it might just mean you are putting yourself in a position where you are facing huge challenges.

“I'd rather race against people stronger than me and finish last than sandbag and win a race against slower riders,” says Gould.

If you’re never getting dropped or pushed to your limit, you’re likely not going to improve any time soon.

“You will be stronger—mentally and physically—for the next ride or race,” Gould says. “Even if you finish last.”

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